Kissing Doorknobs Analysis

Spencer Hesser, Terry. Kissing Doorknobs. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1998. [149 pp.] In Kissing Doorknobs, Terry Spencer Hesser has provided a compelling, moving, and sensitive account of one young woman's struggles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. At first her symptoms seemed innocent, but later they progressed so much that they interfered with her life, causing her friends to abandon her and her parents to haul her from one doctor to another, receiving multiple incorrect diagnoses. Kissing Doorknobs provides an up-close and personal look at a commonly misunderstood biological disease, animated characters to help bring the story to life, and the extremely important theme of never giving up. The story
Tara's friends, Keesha and Donna, are not afraid to speak their minds. Donna was the school rebel who took Tara under her wing. After meeting Donna, Tara's symptoms did subside for a while and she began to feel normal for a time. But Donna was involved in drugs and stealing, and she also became pregnant. Donna's troubles were stressful to Tara and brought back the symptoms of OCD. Keesha was an outspoken girl who stood up for Tara, until Tara's OCD became too much for even Keesha to handle. The following quote shows just a small part of Spencer Hesser's writing that really brings these characters to life.
"Keesha was black and full of theatrical attitude. Her parents and grandparents had been part of the civil rights movement and, as she told us frequently: ‘Hawney! My mama and daddy and aunties and uncles did not risk their lives fightin' for civil rights so that I could sit next to Kristin here whining about not looking like a straw with a head. If we'd known that y'all were gonna talk so stupid, we'd a begged for separate schools'"(18)
Through Tara's interactions with these animated characters, the reader can easily see the struggles that OCD can cause for a young woman trying to fit into the
She keeps thinking that she will recover on her own and tries to not be a burden to others. Most of her actions were, in her mind, done toward helping her friends and family. Later in the story Tara meets Sam, a boy who, with the help of medication and group therapy, is recovering from OCD. He introduces her to a psychiatrist, Susan Leonardi, who correctly diagnoses Tara and helps her get on the path to recovery. Sam was the first person that Tara met who also suffered from OCD. Consequentially, they shared a bond and depended on each other.
"Sam's hands met mine. He was crying, I was crying. It was hard. But with this small gesture, we were fighting back. We weren't paralyzed or crushed by this monster. We didn't fold or drop out. We summoned the courage to play the cards life had dealt each of us. Reluctant, insecure warriors but warriors all the same, And we weren't alone."(149)
One of the best lessons that can be learned from this story is to never give up and the tale accurately portrays this. Tara, with the help of her friends and family, is on the way to win her battle over